If ordinance becomes law, San Francisco would become the first city to approve a sales ban on flavored tobacco.
San Francisco has introduced an ordinance —approved by city supervisors—that would ban the sale of flavored e-cigarette juices that include nicotine, as well as flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes—citing concerns that the flavors entice children.
ABC News reported that the ordinance, approved last Tuesday, requires another vote by the city’s board this week, and is expected to pass. The law would take effect in April 2018.
While other cities in the U.S. have passed laws limited access to flavored vaping liquids and flavored tobacco, San Francisco would be the first city to approve a sales ban. Federal law bans sales of flavored cigarettes, but not the sale of menthol cigarettes or flavored tobacco products other than cigarettes.
Sales of vaping liquids that taste like tobacco will still be allowed.
Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, a nonprofit organization that advocates for vaping products, told ABC News that the ordinance is “complete nonsense” and ignores the benefits of flavored vaping products.
“There is a great deal of evidence that flavors are critical to helping adults quit smoking by helping them disconnect from the taste of tobacco,” said Conley, who quit smoking in 2010 with the help of watermelon flavored “e-liquid,” the liquid used in electronic cigarettes.